So I've been building up my website with my resume, and it occurs to me that I should post (as I've heard other people talk about) code samples. Unfortunately, I'm not entirely sure what kind of code I should post.
Should I post entire projects? Should I just post a neat class with some implementation?
Currently my focus is on graphics, so should I post OpenGL code? GLSL code? I'm just really rather lost on what makes a good code sample to go along with a resume.
I tend to commit small open source projects/scripts that get made in the process of something else (or just for fun) to GitHub. Have you worked on anything like that recently?
I personally would say that code samples are available on request. It's hard to select small samples that'll meet every potential employers need - unless you set up you're own SVN and make all your code downloadable.
As a employer myself, I'd probably prefer you to select the code for me. It's a lot of work digging through other people's code.
Code samples are ineffective without a detailed explanation of what they do and why. Otherwise, people could post samples of code that they did not write.
If you have done something particularly noteworthy it may be easier to try to explain it in words rather than by posting the code.
This is one of the open secrets about open source. You can either join a project, or post open source mini-projects of your own. With GitHub and Ohloh, it's a great way to get a reputation and get indirect financial benefit even if you're the lone gunman of the project.
Also, writing code which you know is for public consumption is beneficial:
I believe you should focus on making a demo. Company what to see something that actually work, and maybe give a quick look on a the code, but the more important thing is actual results. It doesn't have to be very big, make a an application that will render a simple scene with some shaders. If you do full screen effects, add an option to activate/deactivate them.
We received all kind of demos in the past, actual games, 56k light demo, mathematic equation renderer etc. Those are all good. OpenGL and HLSL are fun to work with, so try to find an idea you will have fun implementing!
I would say "Post the code that has a story behind it and tell the story." With respect to your specific question about what type of graphics code, I think you should post the code that you love the most. I really like to see what excites people about their work.
All that said, if you and I were to end up talking about a job, I'd be much more interested in the portfolio that you brought with you to the interview.
I'd want to talk to you face to face about the problem that you were trying to solve, why did you go that route, did you think about this other option?, who were you working with at the time, how did that go?, how did you manage the group tasks?, what if you fell behind schedule?, and so forth. Basically, the physical portfolio exists as both evidence that you have done work and that you can speak about it to another human being. Personally, I find websites interesting but insufficient to convince me that "hey, this is someone that I'd like to see at work every day."
All of the above assume that someone is going to look at your code. Depending on the region of the world in which you're looking for work, you'd do better to concentrate on people even looking at your resume at all.
Make the code samples available on request, and if you're lucky, you'll get far enough into the hiring process to find someone who cares enough to request the code samples.